


A Matter of Circumstance

by Talitha_Koum



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Under the Red Hood
Genre: Angst, Dialogue, Gen, Jason and Tim talk, Light Angst, all attempted to murder tim, and several attempted murders, no profreading we die like mne, poor Tim, references to violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 11:01:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20406637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talitha_Koum/pseuds/Talitha_Koum
Summary: Jason once tried to kill Tim. Now Tim's coming to him for help. They talk.





	A Matter of Circumstance

“Whoever’s out there, you better have a good reason for knocking on my window, or I’ll shoot you right off the fire escape!” Jason warned from inside his apartment, gun drawn. He’d just gotten back from patrol, all he wanted right now was a hot shower and a warm bed, and now it looked like he wouldn’t be getting either one of those things.

Immediately the incessant knocking on his window pane stopped, and he heard “Hood, it’s me. Open up, I need your help with something.”

Red Robin. Jason holstered his weapon and reached forward to unlock and open the window. As the younger vigilante slipped in and closed it behind him, Jason moved across the room the make space between him and the replacement.

It’d been a few years since he’d come back into Gotham, guns blazing, and he had started working the occasional big case with the rest of the family, minus the Big Bat, but in the relationship was tenuous at best.

“Why are you here?” He asked, staring at Tim, who was now standing in his living room with his mask removed.

“I told you, I need help.”

“Yeah, I heard that, but why are you asking me? Why not Dick or Bruce?”

Tim huffed at him before answering “I need _your_ help. Not theirs.”

“What could I help with that they couldn’t? Unless you need someone dead, which I doubt, you could very easily just ask one of them. You know Dick would jump at the chance for some ‘brotherly bonding time’.” Jason practically spat those last words, then paused before saying, “You do remember that I tried to kill you, right?”

At that, Tim just shrugged before taking a seat on Jason’s old couch. “So did Damian. All he got was a reprimand and I was basically told to suck it up and deal with it. He’s actually tried to kill me more than you have.”

“It’s different with the demon brat. He was raised by the League of Assassins. Killing was pretty much the only thing he’d ever been taught.” Jason didn’t know why, but he felt the urge to defend the kid. It’s not like he could help how he’d been raised.

“Yeah, I get that. But he still tried, even after Dick gave him the ‘We do not kill’ speech. And he was fully in control of himself every time. At least you were under the effect of the Lazarus Pit.”

“Yeah, but –” Jason tried to argue, only to be cut off when Tim continued.

“When someone attacks you while under fear toxin or Joker venom or anything like that, we don’t blame them for the attack, we blame the drug that is the actual cause. We know the Lazarus Pit has a similar effect, that it gets into your mind and takes over.”

“Fear toxin causes hallucinations and delusions, so people don’t know what they’re doing. The Pit doesn’t do that. I knew what I was doing. I made those choices. It wasn’t just the Pit, it was me.”

Tim sat back in the chair looking at Jason thoughtfully. After a few seconds, he asked, “If it really was you, then how come you haven’t tried again?”

Jason froze, staring at Tim from where he was leaning against the bookshelf across the room. The younger boy just looked at him for a moment, the he spoke again. “It’s not like you haven't had the chance. Sure, we definitely kept our distance for a while, but we have all teamed up several times over the past couple of years, and you didn’t do anything besides a couple of threats.”

“You and I didn’t interact much, and when we did, you didn’t do anything to piss me off.” Jason cut in, only for Tim’s response to stop him in his tracks once again.

“Actually, I did.” Tim shrugged. “I wanted to know if you were still a threat. Despite what the others might say, I don’t actually have a death wish, and I wanted to be sure you weren’t just biding your time to try again. Not everything I did was direct, but I definitely would pull some strings to make things happen I knew would make you angry, and then made some excuse to show up around the time. If you were going to blow up and try to attack me, you would have done it then. But you didn’t. Not even once.”

He paused, weighing his next words carefully. “So, yeah, you might have made the choice to try and kill me, but I believe that you were severely affected by the Pit and were not fully in control. You are now. I trust you, and I need your help. Are you going to help me or not?”

Jason stared at Tim, his mind racing. Finally, he simply nodded and said, “I’ll help. What’s going on?”

**Author's Note:**

> I got tired of reading things where people in the Batfam try to discourage Tim from working with Jason on the basis of “He tried to kill you.” but just brush off that Damian did the same thing. I don’t have an explanation for what Tim needs help with, or any more background, I just had the phrase “Damian tried to kill me too” pop into my head and wanted to write it out.


End file.
